Hacking The Law http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/ The world through the eyes of a technologist turned lawyer. en-us 2004-09-14T13:36:16+00:00 RIAA Officers Face Allegations of Inducement http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000020.html Unintended consequences of the proposed Inducement of Copyright Infringement Act have been criticized as likely to give birth to a generation of twenty-first century high-technology ambulance chasers. Inducement is well-known to facilitate a number of nasty and sometimes unfair litigation... Werdna 2004-09-14T13:36:16+00:00 The Luddite's Lawyer and the Circumvention of Progress http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000018.html The Luddite lamented, "the Millennium is upon us and still they depend upon the machines. We have failed." "Yes, but it is a Digital Millennium," said the Luddite's Lawyer. "There is a way, but first you must write!" "I don't... Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-08-04T18:25:59+00:00 Inducement of Copyright Infringement Act of 2004: a Question of Balance http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000016.html I recently testified before the Senate Judiciary on the Inducement of Copyright Infringement Act, a bill that would grant to copyright holders the right to sue non-infringing persons selling equipment capable of both infringing and noinfringing uses, if their sale... Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-07-31T19:46:24+00:00 The Fundamentals, Part IV: it's all about the balance http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000015.html Intellectual Property cannot promote progress without providing real and meaningful incentives to authors to invent. Strong and enforceable intellectual property rights are critical to that end. But promotion of progress also requires limits to those rights. One of my favorite... Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-07-31T19:21:16+00:00 The Luddite's Lawyer and the Perils of Technology Regulation http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000014.html "We failed," the Luddite lamented. A former worker in the coal plant who saw first hand how the machines destroyed the life of his friends, and with that his lungs, he dedicated himself to a simpler life. "They give no heed to our warnings, and technology proceeds apace. The people depend on the machines, even enjoy them. I see no way to halt it. Alas, the technology itself makes that impossible." "There is a way," the Luddite's lawyer noted. "But first, you must paint." "I don't understand," the Luddite said. "How can I stop the machines with paint?" "First, you paint," said his lawyer. "Then, I shall write the writs." Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-05-02T18:44:08+00:00 The Fundamentals, Part III: the OTSOG Principle http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000013.html Closely related to the notion of balancing the importance of pioneering invention against incremental improvement, is the importance of balancing the IP monopolies against the "Sciences," in the Constitutional sense of technique of writing and inventing -- the ability of facilitating those who follow not only to improve upon the works before, but to evolve new works by genuinely evolving entirely new works. That is, not only making a "better old thing," but also "almost a new thing." Both paths are important, and lead to essential progress. The former notion is incremental improvement, the latter is somewhat different in kind. This last principle has been variously articulated as OTSOG, an acronym for "On The Shoulders of Giants." Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-05-01T16:44:00+00:00 The Fundamentals, Part II: Pioneering Invention and Incremental Improvement http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000012.html If all we did was to give a single author or pioneering scientist strong incentives to create one breakthrough work or invention, the promotion of that small sliver of progress could hardly justify the Constitutional status and societal importance of the Intellectual Property Clause. Intellectual Property is not merely about giving incentive by grant of monopoly, it is also about stirring and supporting the next generation of works and invention, so that those who follow can not only devise their own pioneering works, but also to build incrementally but fundamentally on the works of those who have come before. Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-05-01T15:40:49+00:00 The Fundamentals, Part I: Promote the Progress http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000011.html Article I, Section 8 grants Congress the power "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." While much is written about the operative significance of this language, that is, the extent to which this language constrains or limits, there is no doubt about its philosophy. Copyrights and Patents exist to promote the progress. Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-05-01T15:16:09+00:00 Marbury v. Madison: Our First Legal Hack? http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000010.html The year is 1803, the time of what was, perhaps, America's first legal hack. The Hacker is Supreme Court Justice John Marshall. The ink on our constitution was barely dry, and each branch of government was still flexing its newfound... Hacking the Law Werdna 2004-04-26T18:55:08+00:00 On Hacking the Law http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000009.html hacker. A person who delights in having an intimate understanding of the internal workings of a system, computers and computer networks in particular. The term is often misused in a pejorative context, where "cracker" would be the correct term. See also: cracker. See RFC1983. A hacker
enjoys exploring the details of . . . systems and how to stretch their capabilities [and is o]ne who enjoys the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations.
]]> Hacking the Law Werdna 2004-04-26T18:28:35+00:00 IEEE-USA IPC Building Block Position Statements http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000005.html A subcommittee of the IEEE Intellectual Property Committee has undertaken to review the fundamentals of Intellectual Property Law. The goal is to develop several short position statements to be used as building blocks for IPC lobbying efforts. I applaud this... Intellectual Property Werdna 2004-03-28T23:12:30+00:00 Judge Kozinski and Sex.com http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000004.html The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal has spoken again in the Saga of Cohen, Kremen and the sex.com domain name. In this new opinion, the Ninth Circuit socks it to NSI, stating that they are amenable to suit for conversion... Intellectual Property Werdna 2003-08-10T18:18:04+00:00 A Modest Proposal For Spam Regulation http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000003.html We needn't dwell on the annoyance that broadcast and unsolicited e-mails can be. So far gone is the problem, that even the Direct Mail industry has acquiesced to the calls for legal regulation of Spam. That said, and despite my... Technology and the Law Werdna 2002-10-24T13:41:36+00:00 WARDRIVING: Alice at Home http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000002.html So, let's begin with one example (I call this one "Alice, at home."). Alice uses her laptop at the office with a wireless PCMCIA card. On an atypical weekend, she brings the laptop home and, just for the heck of... Technology and the Law Werdna 2002-09-16T21:29:15+00:00 Wardriving: where is the line? (Part One) http://www.mucow.com/lawhacker/archives/000001.html Wardriving, a term derived from the hackerese term "Wardialing," is no longer an obscure techie term. With the price of laptops and wireless cards at an all-time low, many computer users are discovering the joy of Wi-Fi connectivity. Amazed to... Technology and the Law Werdna 2002-09-15T23:21:23+00:00